Things for writers to do during a blizzard

I’m in Austin, where it’s a cool and sunny winter day. But two of my kids are under the storm clouds in the photo above. So are tens of millions of other people, but mostly my kids, so: Sweetie, don’t forget your sweater!

Back to my point. If you’re a writer — or you’ve always wanted a chance to get to work on your writing — and you’re snowed in by this storm, here are some activities for you.

Back up your work. On your computer, on an external hard drive or memory stick, on a cloud server that is not in the blizzard zone, and possibly to a site on another continent.

Print your work in progress. Sharpen pencils. Put fresh batteries in the flashlight. Get ready to work on paper if the power goes out.

Write scenes set in a blizzard. Use what’s outside the window as research. Write what you know.

Write scenes set on an equatorial island. Sit around swearing, because if you’d booked that tropical vacation, you could set this scene on Bali and write what you know.